cycling

The Germans love their cars and they are known for that around the world. So it is surprising that they are among Europe’s keenest cyclists. The reasons for this are the good infrastructure, bicycle-friendly environment and positive image.

The fact that car-loving Germans can be persuaded to get on their bikes is not least due to government efforts and investments. In 2002, the Federal Ministry of Transport brought these together for the first time in the National Cycling Plan, to which it has made almost annual additions. As well as assessing the current situation, the plan also defines objectives and draws up guidelines for achieving them. 80 per cent of Germans own a bike and use it mainly to travel distances of less than five kilometres. Thus, they cover nine per cent of their total journeys by bike, and the National Cycling Plan aims to raise this figure to eleven per cent by 2012. In addition, car drivers are to be motivated to switch to cycling on journeys of up to five kilometres. In order to reach these targets, the Federal Government has doubled the budget for promoting cycling to 80 million euro.

The popularity of cycling varies from region to region. Particularly in the north, people cycle quite a lot. “The German cycling capital is Münster,” says Wolfgang Richter, Desk Officer for Tourism at the German Cycling Club (ADFC). “There, people cover 30 per cent of the distance they travel by bike.” In Bremen and Kiel, too, as well as in university towns such as Erlangen and Freiburg, the trusty bicycle is very popular.

Promoting everyday travel by bike

Since it is the local authorities that are responsible for the infrastructure within cities, the Federal Government with its National Cycling Plan can only influence the construction of cycle tracks alongside federal roads. “That is why cycle touring is seeing particularly strong growth,” says Richter. Germany has 75,000 kilometres of long-distance cycle tracks, he says. “In many cities, on the other hand, one often finds that there is not much cycling infrastructure,” says Richter. “The commitment of local authorities varies.” In cities, all the National Cycling Plan can do is create framework conditions favourable to cycling, such as special arrangements relating to the rules of the road.

As well as the infrastructure, education and public relations work are essential for persuading people to get on their bikes, says Richter. Cycling has high status in tourism, and now it has to be promoted as a means of everyday transport. “Many people need an incentive to switch to cycling,” says Richter. A campaign such as Mit dem Rad zur Arbeit (cycle to work) could provide such an incentive. Those taking part commit themselves to cycling to work on 20 days in the summer. “The number of people taking part is growing every year. The campaign is particularly effective because whole companies are participating, with the staff motivating each another.” Even the Deutsche Bundesbank is taking part.

The changing image of cycling

While in London, it may be unusual for a banker to cycle to work, in Germany it is almost normal. That has not always been the case. There has been a positive shift in the bicycle’s image since the late 1970s. With growing environmental awareness, the cycle has shed its image of being a poor man’s means of transport. In the 1990s, people also became more aware of the health aspect. If you cycle nine kilometres during the day, you do not need to go to a fitness studio in the evening. Wolfgang Richter believes that this is a common motive. “But the most important thing about cycling is its great flexibility,” he says.

Call a bike is a cycling success story. When the rental system was introduced by the Deutsche Bahn in Munich in 2001, many people were sceptical. Bikes you can just drop off at any crossroads in the city centre when you have finished with them? Meanwhile, the service is available to registered customers in seven cities. In Berlin alone, 1,650 of the red and silver bicycles are spread around the city centre. Anyone wishing to borrow one who cannot find one nearby can find out the location of the nearest bicycle by looking on the internet or enquiring by telephone. Phoning unlocks the bike and the rental charge is eight cents a minute or nine euro a day.

Cycle park

What irritates car drivers is also a burden to cyclists in big German cities: a safe place to leave their means of transport, ideally on their doorstep. The solution is lockable cycle sheds. In Hamburg, several hundred such sheds have been erected with municipal funding in yards or on wide pavements since the late 1980s. Each shed has room for twelve bikes and the users pay a small rent. In Dortmund, the project has been running since 2001. It was initiated by the Dortmund Transport Club, which actively advertises it and helps to realise it. Here, too, the local authorities are sharing the costs.

As a loyal everyday companion, the bicycle is subject to fashion trends. In the 1990s, mountain bikes were popular. A few years ago, fashion-conscious city metropolitans discovered traditional racing bikes with the drop handlebars. Minimalist one-gear bikes with only one brake or without any brakes at all - fixed-gear bikes – are now all the rage, ideally from coveted fashion labels such as Our Legacy or Acne. Dutch bikes, used by more and more young people, represent quite the opposite. With their high handlebars and soft saddle, you glide through town. Not quite as quickly as by racing bike, but just as flexibly and cheaply. And for a distance of less than five kilometres, they are faster than a car.